New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) began the Road to TOKYO DOME tour ahead of the two-night Wrestle Kingdom 15 event on January 4th and January 5th at the legendary Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The festivities continued at the Aimesse Yamanashi venue in Yamanashi, Japan in front of 692 fans. The crowd size was reduced due to the ongoing COVID-19 (Coronavirus, 2019) pandemic and NJPW safety protocols.
The non-streamed event began with the Suzuki-Gun team of former IWGP Intercontinental Champion, two-time NEVER Openweight Champion, and Suzuki-Gun leader Minoru Suzuki along with reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions El Desperado/Yoshinobu Kanemaru defeat former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion “Funky Weapon” Ryusuke Taguchi, “Way to the Grand Master” Master Wato, and NJPW Noge Dojo Young Lion Yuya Uemura in 11 minutes and 13 seconds when Suzuki gained the fall over Uemura after using his Gotch Style Piledriver technique.
The second match saw the Bullet Club trio of former IWGP Intercontinental Champion “Rogue General” Bad Luck Fale, former NEVER Openweight Champion Yujiro, and “Crown Jewel” Chase Owens defeat former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe, reigning KOPW (presumably King of Pro Wrestling) titleholder Toru Yano, and Toa Henare when Owens gained the fall over Henare at the 8 minutes and 36 seconds mark after using his Package Piledriver technique.
The third match saw the Suzuki-Gun team of reigning IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr/Taichi) and Douki defeat the Bullet Club team of upcoming IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Challengers, World Tag League 2020 (WTL 2020) winners, and former six-time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tanga Loa) [GOD], and Jado when Zack Sabre Jr gained the submission fall over Jado with a Modified Ground Octopus Hold at the 10 minutes and 53 seconds mark.
The fourth match saw the Los Ingobernables de Japon (LIJ) team of Sanada along with former three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and Best of the Super Juniors 27 winner “Time Bomb” Hiromu Takahashi, and Bushi defeat the Bullet Club team of former IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Evil, reigning two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion “Bone Soldier” Taiji Ishimori, and “The Spoiler” Dick Togo when Sanada gained the submission fall over Togo with the Skull End technique at the 11 minutes and 42 seconds mark.
The headline match saw the Empire team of reigning Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, upcoming NEVER Openweight Challenger and former NEVER Openweight Champion Jeff Cobb, and Great-O-Khan defeat CHAOS member former five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada; former eight-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, two-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomoaki Homna in 13 minutes and 11 seconds when Cobb gained the fall over Honma with his Tour of the Islands technique.
The marquee match saw the LIJ team of reigning three-time IWGP Heavyweight and reigning six-time IWGP Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ Testuya Naito and reigning two-time NEVER Openweight Champion “The Dragon” Shingo Takagi defeat upcoming IWGP Heavyweight Championship Challenger, former IWGP Intercontinental Champion, NEVER Openweight Champion, and G1 Climax 29 & 30 winner “Golden Star” Kota Ibushi and CHAOS member Sho in 14 minutes and 31 seconds after Naito used the Destino technique on Sho.
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